Pupils at Mtubatuba called on to end violence at schools
Mtubatuba Mayor, Musawenkosi Mkhwanazi, is calling on the district's high school pupils to stop killing each other.
Earlier this week, a grade 11 learner at Mgwazeni High School was stabbed and stoned to death by his grade 9 peer, who has since been arrested. Mkhwanazi says he disagrees with the provincial Education Department's position that the deaths are the result of faction fighting.
He says he managed to stop another stabbing incident from taking place at another school after a learner at Thulasibone High School was stabbed to death prior to the Mgwazeni incident.
"At Isolesizwe High School the same thing happened. I heard that students would come out to fight and they came with all sorts of weapons, but fortunately I phoned the police and they came through and intervened before it was too late. These are not faction fights. These are just fights between a group of boys and we do not know what their motive is," he said.
Meanwhile, following the incident, the department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has warned communities embroiled in faction fights not to use schools as places for their battles.
The department's spokesperson, Kwazi Mthethwa, says the grade nine pupil has been arrested and the department has reason to believe that the incident might have been sparked by faction fights currently gripping the area.
"As a department we have arranged that learners get professional help so that they are able to deal with these unfortunate incidents. We want to send a message that school is not a fighting ground. School is where learners are supposed to get information as well as protection," he said.
(Photo: AFP)